The Ringer’s Zach Lowe put out an NBA Christmas Day recap podcast, and one of his “hot takes” was that Nikola Jokic has passed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race. SGA, of course, won the award last year, leading the Thunder to the title in dominant fashion.
With OKC coming into the season as massive favorites to repeat, and Shai picking up right where he left off, a second straight MVP award seemed like a foregone conclusion, especially with his team threatening to win 70+ games.
But recently, that has all changed. The Thunder have looked very beatable lately, dropping three games to the Spurs in the past few weeks, with another loss to the Wolves mixed in.